Swedish municipalities and competitive sport’s stadium requirements: competing or mutual interests?

Abstract

This paper examines the extent of an institutional change within the organisational field of municipalities and competitive sport in Sweden. First, there is both a continuation of and a challenge to the institutional relationship between municipalities and competitive sport as a result of new institutional logics. Second, although there are competing institutional logics, the municipalities have an ambivalent approach towards the stadium requirements from competitive sport. On the one hand, the municipalities wish to continue their mutual exchange with competitive sport, and finance and support it, while avoiding competing institutional logics within the organisational field. On the other hand, if they are not able to have an increased influence over the development of the stadium requirements, the municipalities express that they define the stadium requirements as private issue and a task for competitive sport itself. The conclusion is that the financing of stadium requirements and the definition of them as a public issue is under negotiation and the new institutional logics have resulted in a battle over policy formulation and a less predictable policy area.